There has been a rapid and continuing increase in the number of remote contact businesses such as telephone sales and collections, customer service centers, Internet service centers, Internet portals, etc. The services offered are multiple, but the businesses are related in that all contacts are provided from a remote location. Thus, the consumer communicates with the business via a Communications Link such as the telephone, Internet, extranet, intranet, cable network, satellite network, etc. This has created an increasing need for qualified agents to staff those contact businesses. However, the industry has a problem with finding agents, recruiting them, training them, retaining them, and keeping them fully employed at all times.
Coupled with the increase in demand is the increase in connectivity. Ten years ago telephones were the primary means of communicating, but today there are many means such as telephones, the Internet, intranet, extranet, satellite networks, cable networks, pagers, facsimile devices, etc.
In addition, the prospective agents may not be located near the contact center. The contact center may be located in one town, and the persons who are looking to become agents may be located in another town, far away, or the agents may have inadequate transportation or insufficient time to waste traveling to and from the contact center, or the agent may simply desire to work at home.
Further, an agent at a first contact center may have been trained on one product or service, but the company originally providing that product or service no longer provides that product or service, so that contact center may no longer need an agent trained on that product or service. However, another company does provide such a product or service, but that company does not use that first contact center, but uses a second, different contact center. As a result, the first contact center must train the agent for another product or service, and the second contact center must train an agent on that product or service. Thus, both contact centers must train agents, and the first agent's expertise and training have been wasted.